


The Second Half

by thelahey_parade



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, and the World Cup, thanks to an incredible baseball AU, the sports AU the plot bunnies demand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-02-05 03:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1803838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelahey_parade/pseuds/thelahey_parade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the final game of the Valyrian Cup and all Lyanna Stark needs to do is keep her head in the game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Second Half

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Seventh Inning Stretch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/976315) by [crossingwinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossingwinter/pseuds/crossingwinter). 



> All of the noticeable characters, locations and concepts are the property of GRRM, FIFA and Football (soccer) in general. I only claim credit for throwing them all together, though that idea was also inspired by someone else.
> 
> Please excuse the spelling and grammatical errors.

The crowd surrounding her went mute. Not because they were stunned in to silence but because the only thing that reached Lyanna’s ears was the treasonous sound of the leather clad ball rubbing against the nylon cords at the back of her net. She had seen it coming long before it came to fruition and had been helpless to stop it.

Lya didn’t know what combination of errors or missteps had put Brienne out of position but even Maege wasn’t good enough to cover three players at once. Charging Mopatis meant leaving Naharis open. Waiting for the pass was not an option either. If she gave them too much time there would be nothing to stop Mopatis from shooting it past her. Lya was sure they had been saved when Lysa dropped back, covering Naharis, but no one had seen the incoming Drogo. At least not until she was jumping up and down on the balls of her feet celebrating her go ahead goal.

Lyanna’s head dropped in annoyance and she bit down hard on her lower lip to stop herself from crying. This was the most important game of her life. More important than the game when she realized she wanted to go pro. More important than when the Iron League scouts had come to watch her. More important even than when the Castle Black Canons played Pentos FC for the Seven Kingdoms Championship. None of that mattered compared to winning the Valyrian Cup and with that goal, she felt her dreams slipping away.

Cursing under her breath she kicked the turf. Lyanna didn’t want to face anyone that moment. Not her teammates and most especially not her at coach. She knew exactly what she would see in Rhaegar’s amethyst eyes, disappointment. The same disappointment and coldness she had seen in his eyes when she had ended their relationship. As much as he tried to convince Lyanna he loved her, she knew things couldn’t go on as they had. Elia was pregnant and she had missed her last Cup appearance for him, she loved him. Lyanna loved him too or at least there had been a time when she thought she did.

Walking away from him was the hardest thing she had to do. Convincing herself that it was wrong to love him had only made matters worse. She thought if she focused hard enough on the game things would get better. But even the faintest reminder of what Rhaegar had meant to her, everything that he had said to her, was enough to break the petite keeper. _Her head isn’t in the game_ the tabloids reported. _A change of scenery could be just what Stark needs_ the papers wrote.

That was before she was traded to Lannisport United. Before she met Elaena Targaryen and the always infuriating Cersei Lannister. Cersei who had been the best mid attacker in the entire league. The unfairly tall and beautiful captain of the team. The one the sun never set on, who got everything she wanted and more. Cersei who never stopped smiling, even when Lyanna felt like her insides had been ripped out and stepped on.

There was a time when she wanted to run out and tackle the ball, hoping that as Cersei stumbled over her crouched form she would fall the wrong way and her leg might break. Then Lyanna wouldn’t have to see that damn smile all the time or listen to people say her name anymore. Cersei who was ‘ _carrying the team’_. The very reason they would play in to the post season and Lyanna wouldn’t be allowed to crawl in to a corner and die from her heartbreak.

Over time her desire to be rid of Cersei faded and Elaena didn’t seem so bad after a while either. Even Lyanna’s smile came back eventually. It had been a long and rocky road but she had found something worth living for again. “Making the team,” she had told them, “nothing is more important than making the team.” She had meant it, even if they didn’t believe her. There was no question that Cersei would make the team and her chemistry with Elaena was unmatchable. Lyanna was a wild card, just as questionable as the reckless way that she played. In the end it was Maege who had been her saving grace. Maege who had played in front of her at Castle Black and had declared that there was no keeper she had more faith in than Lyanna. Because even after she had left Lyanna was still family. _“Us Northerners have to stick together,”_ Maege said to her as they pulled on their iron grey Westeros jerseys.

Her spirits had been renewed with the news. For once in her life things were looking up and winter seemed far behind her. It was never that easy for Lyanna though because every team needed a coach and when it came to the national team only one coach was good enough. Rhaegar Targaryen.

His name broke her from her thoughts and she finally looked up. Not at him or even at her bench. She looked to the crowd where her brothers were calling out things like _“It’s ok one”_ and _“We can make the comeback”_ but as much as she loved Ned and Benjen those were the last words she wanted to hear. Then her gaze fell on Jaime. Jaime who claimed to hate soccer more than anything in the world. Who only showed up because he didn’t want to hear Cersei complain about how he wasn’t being supportive.

When their eyes met he didn’t offer her any supportive words. There was not sadness in his gaze and he didn’t share in her disappointment. His green eyes were strong and hard because to Jaime this goal didn’t matter. In the grand scheme of things it was just a ball in the back of the net. No one had died or got hurt. When the game was over nothing would change. It would all begin again and in three years there would be another Valyrian Cup. _“That’s the definition of insanity,”_ he said, _“doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome. You’re all insane.”_ Cersei laughed him off and Elaena argued with him. Not Lyanna, not about that. She knew he was right about her, that she was insane. But this time things would be different, it had to be different. She was going to prove to Jaime and to everyone in that arena that she was strong enough. That no matter how often winter came or how harsh it was she would always weather the storm. That even with Rhaegar Targaryen behind the bench and Elia Martell somewhere in the crowd she was strong enough to win this.

 

__________

 

The first half died out with the kick off and a long pass towards the Essosi end. The women of the Westeros National Team hung their heads low with exhaustion as the filed in to the locker. As they settled in to their stalls and chugged down water Rhaegar began some speech about how they shouldn’t be discouraged but they needed to play stronger in the second half. Lyanna wasn’t really listening she was too focused on the goal. _“It’s just a goal, what’s the big deal?”_ she heard Jaime taunting her. His questions only motivated her more. She wanted to prove to him it was more than just a goal. She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and Lyanna looked up to see Rhaegar who was trying to appear supportive. There was a time when the slightest attention from him made her heart leap and the smallest touch made adrenaline race through her veins. Now she felt nothing for him. There was a hollowness between them that even he seemed to notice because his hand fell away without saying a word.

“Stark!” Cersei called a little more insistently then the first time capturing Lyanna’s attention. “I know you’re doing your best but this letting goals in thing needs to stop.”

Beside her Elaena nodded in agreement, “I’m not losing my Valyrian Cup ring because you’re hung up on the coach still.”

“I’m not…” Lyanna protested angrily only to realize they were taunting her. They both knew what he had meant to her once upon a time. Even when she had wanted nothing more than for them to both disappear in to the oblivion and leave her be they had been the one to slowly put her back together. Them and Jaime, though Jaime had put more effort in to tearing her down than he had building her back up. _“How will you ever find out what you’re made of if you surround yourself with falsities Stark?”_ He was right and it was those very words that would get her through the second half.

Picking herself up with a renewed sense of purpose she followed her teammates back out on to the pitch. When the game started all she wanted was to win but now she had a new purpose. It was more than a goal. Today she would prove to him once and for all it was more than a goal

 

__________

 

The second half was dominated by Elaena’s loud insistences that they _“get their shit together”_ and Cersei’s early threat to have them all expatriated if they didn’t _“put the ball past that damn Essosi keeper”._ Lyanna had never understood how the pair of them managed to motivate people but it was working and now wasn’t the time to question it.

She was standing alone in her box when the team surged forward, intent on making the Essosi fight for their victory. Sometimes it was easy for her to forget how lonely it was between those pipes. The last defense of her teams hopes and dreams. No else to take the blame if things went wrong. It was just Lya who would have to deal with the guilt of letting them down, of seeing the heartbreak in their eyes. She would have to be the one to pick up the pieces while nursing her own disappointment. When everyone was half a field away crowding Loraq’s net she remembered that and Lyanna felt a pang of nervousness for the opposing keeper. Her anxiety was replaced with a rush of adrenaline as Alerie Tyrell’s laser shot bent right over the shoulder of Loraq.

It was refreshing and Lyanna was grateful to Alerie for the reminder she wasn’t alone. A team is like a family and just like her family she could depend on this team. Even if on any other given day they were at opposite ends of the pitch squaring off against each other today they weren’t. Today they were the Westeros National Team and together they were going to take home the Golden Dragon Trophy. Lyanna was going to make sure of it. Cersei’s threats and Alerie’s goal had been enough to get her head back in the game. Enough to convince her it wasn’t crazy to charge Naharis this time. Enough for her to run out and grab the ball off that corner kick before any Essosi player even though about heading it in to her net. She was revitalized now. Playing like she had back before Rhaegar or the Iron League. Playing like she had as a child when all that mattered was the love of the game.

It was liberating and Lyanna hadn’t realized just how much she was holding back until Alerie gave her hope that it wasn’t over for them. What had started off as a desperate need had turned to proving Jaime wrong but now it was more than that and nothing at all. Now it was about playing the game. About leaving the past in the past in moving forward. It was about taking chances and being the wild reckless keeper she had been when they signed her to Castle Black.

The next kick ball that came her way she stopped and in a glorious manner. Lyanna leaped stretching her arms out her far right refusing to let anything past her. The feeling of the ball in her hands was like an electric shock to her heart. She recovered quickly, drop kicking it half the length of the field with a smile that could have rivaled Cersei’s. A smile that she pointed at someone in the stands. The announcers might say it was for Ned or Benjen but Jaime knew it was for him.

She was taunting him, like she always did with that smile. Like he always did when he told her it was just a goal. That’s just the way they were with each other. He tried to recount how many times Cersei had told him she’d kill him if he bedded another one of her teammates. Lyanna was different though. So unbearably different than the usual people his twin surrounded herself with. What he wanted from the Stark girl he didn’t know but bedding her wouldn’t be enough, he was sure of that.

Lyanna yelled out to her defense, pushing them forward and encouraging Cersei’s all or nothing attitude. If this was the last game they were going to play, any of them, she wanted it to be the best one she had ever been in. It was a 360 from the way she had felt after the Drogo goal but sports had a way of turning people on their head. When the crowd got behind its team and revived them with an unwavering faith in their ability to win in the end.

The fans were why she liked it so much. The reason that she wanted to go pro so badly because Lyanna wanted to be a part of something bigger than herself. The liveliness of the crowd. The thrill of everyone holding their breath at once, erupting in fits of euphoria together. To know that even for that brief moment the 100,000 people around you are sharing the exact feeling with you was magical for Lyanna. She had tried to explain it to Rhaegar once and he just shrugged off her enthusiasm. He had been a goal scorer, he didn’t understand. Unless they were chanting his name their wave of emotions went unnoticed by him. Not by Lyanna.

The half dragged on and was characterized by more close calls and almosts than either team would have liked. In the end it was Cersei who made the difference. The golden girl of the Lannisport United who made an unbelievable long shot that sent the team crashing towards her, fans raging in the stands. The breath was knocked out of Lyanna’s lungs as she ran full speed at her, throwing herself on top of Elaena. They jumped and they sang and they screamed while the Essosi team left the field with tears in their eyes. Lyanna couldn’t feel bad for them because she felt so very alive. Blood was coursing through her veins and she was so happy she could have cried with Robert Baratheon, CEO of the Valyrian Cup handed it to Cersei. When it finally reached her the white gold was cool beneath her finger tips and the feeling washed over Lyanna like wave crashing against her in the sea. There were so many things she wanted to say but she didn’t have the words.

After the crowd filed out and the other team departed. When the photographers realized that they wouldn’t get anymore good photos and the sun began to set only their families remained. One by one the victorious Westeros team filed out in their street clothes throwing themselves in to the arms of their loved ones. First Alerie, who her husband Mace had grabbed with such enthusiasm that they nearly tumbled to the ground. Then Elaena and Cersei who less than humbly accepted all the praise thrown their way by Jaime and the soccer legend Oberyn Martell, who Cersei had been seeing for some time now. Maege who was never one for excessive celebration slipped out back to see her daughters, giving her well wishes to everyone in the locker room and promising to kick their asses when the season rolled around in August.

Lyanna was last. She had sat alone in her stall longer than she meant too, letting the gravity of what had just occurred. It was just a goal but he had been wrong about it not being a matter of life or death. He had to know that now after seeing how everyone reacted. She couldn’t say that to him though because that would mean admitting that she thought about Jaime a little too much. That somewhere along the way he became the voice inside her head who laughed when she ordered a whiskey sour and not a fruity drink or told her that the guy she was thinking about bringing would never be as good as him. Because that voice should have been her brothers who had stood beside her through all this insanity. Ned and Benjen who between the two of them had been to every game and suffered every disappointment with her. But it wasn’t, it was Jaime. Jaime didn’t think losing was a big deal just like he would probably think winning the cup wasn’t a big deal either.

That thought made her laugh, rousing her from her seat, spurring her to take on whoever was waiting on the other side of that door. Ben and Ned got to her first, pulling her in to tight hugs with giant smiles on their faces. They threw their arms around her dragging her the distance between them and Cersei. As they walked over to her teammates she saw Elia who was waiting for Rhaegar. Rhaegar who smiled at her the same way he used to smile at Lyanna when she waited for him after games. It should have bothered her but it didn’t anymore.

“Not half bad Stark,” his voice interceded, “I even almost watched for a bit.” This time it wasn’t in the back of her head. Not some quiet pleas to tear her attention away from Rhaegar and focus on what really mattered. It was Jaime with that charming smile he gave to all the girls, the same smile that made her want to punch him in the arm. "What do you mean you didn't watch me win the game?" Cersei demanded. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a goal," Lyanna chimed in.

Jaime laughed even though he knew he would be paying for it tenfold when all was said and done. He looked down past his sister at the petite brunette with her excited grey eyes and decided that as long as she continued to smile maybe he would accept that it wasn't just a goal. "Of course it was, the real of that game was the legs on that referee." Laughter erupted from them all at the thought of Maester Llewen's legs. He was forgiven at least for now. Deciding she hadn't had enough of the merriment Cersei locked arms with her brother urging him forward. "Come on Jaime, I think you should buy us all drinks."


End file.
